Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

NAVAL RADIOLOGICAL DEFENSE LAB SAN FRANCISCO CA

Personal Author(s):

Report Date:

1965-12-14

Pagination or Media Count:

23.0

Abstract:

The effect of restricted food intake on DNA synthesis in the kidney has been measured in weanling rats by means of injections of tritiated thymidine followed by an assessment of the number of labeled nuclei in autoradiographs. A marked decrease in renal thymidine uptake occurs after 16 hours of food deprivation. Even when refeeding was initiated after 20 hours food deprivation, DNA synthesis remained depressed for some 24 hours. Furthermore, the mitotic stimulus produced by unilateral nephrectomy was not strong enough to overcome the effects of starvation. The results suggest that in the weanling rat the kidney DNA synthetic system is particularly sensitive to caloric intake, and that this fact must be taken into account in evaluating the effects of whole body X-irradiation on the kidney. Author